The Seth Rogen Ninja Turtles Movie Looks Unexpectedly Gorgeous

We weren’t sure how to feel when we first heard Seth Rogen and his production team were working on a new animated Ninja Turtles movie. We were even more cautious when we heard he’d be “reinventing” them as behaving closer to actual teenagers. There’s a lot that could have gone wrong here, though we suppose he couldn’t possibly come up with a worse take than Michael Bay did.

The first trailer was released this morning and….we’re relieved to report there is NOTHING to worry about. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is going to be amazing if these first clips are anything to go by. Rogen got four actual teenagers to do their voices — Donnie’s voice hasn’t even changed yet. They’re the youngest incarnation of the gang to ever emerge from the sewer, and are very inexperienced (Splinter must have his hands full). The Turtles may be different, but the important thing is, they still feel like TURTLES — their rambunctiousness and feisty dialogue are all there.

The animation in this thing is stunning. Nickelodeon has taken the experimental style of Into The Spider-Verse and taken it one step farther, creating an art style that looks like a painting come to life. The colorful lighting effects and wide expressions on the characters look great.

In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, after years of being sheltered from the human world, the Turtle brothers set out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers through heroic acts. Their new friend April O’Neil helps them take on a mysterious crime syndicate, but they soon get in over their heads when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem will be released August 4 in theaters. This’ll be better than pizza!